This conference seeks to explore the cultural and intellectual roots of technological optimism in the 1970s and 1980s, decades that tend to be better known for their pervasive undercurrents of pessimism about threats to the natural environment and human well-being. Nonetheless, significant technological advances continued, and transformative visions of progress gained traction, paving the way for the techno-utopianism of the 1990s. We aim to examine how the popular culture and creative expression of the era captured and amplified positive beliefs in technology’s power to foster innovation, creativity, prosperity and freedom. We invite scholars, historians, technologists and cultural critics to submit papers addressing the historical and cultural dimensions of technological optimism during this pivotal era.